Report Card: F's to McCrory, Head Start cuts

The Report Card issues grades A through F, and incompletes where necessary, to a variety of news items in this space. Got an idea that makes the grade? Send it to JBuchanan@

CITIZEN-TIMES.com

Reader grade

A to the staff at Asheville High for what they have done for my children. My son graduated last year and is now at the University of Chicago. He finds that the education he received at Asheville High equals or exceeds that of his college classmates, many of whom attended prestigious private prep schools. It is common these days to see people cynically refer to the "failing public schools."

Before we become too cynical we should take time to appreciate all that is right with the schools. For my children, the excellent academics and sports have been life changing. And to those who might think that teachers somehow have it easy, call me to volunteer for a debate tournament (we leave most Saturdays about 5:30 a.m.) or spend a day in the sun setting up hurdles for a track meet, or just volunteer in a classroom and find out first hand. Yes, the public schools have their problems and are always in need of improvement, but we should be careful to value and support all that is good in our schools as we have always done in North Carolina.

Frazier Worth, Fairview

Staff grades

F to fewer spots in local Head Start and pre-K classrooms, courtesy the federal sequester and state cuts. Community Action Opportunities, which has local Head Start classrooms and also N.C. Pre-K programs, will have 63 fewer slots for children in those programs this year, according to Brian Repass, children, family and community partnerships director for Community Action Opportunities. The reductions are due in part to the loss of $235,000 because of sequestration and in part to previous state cuts to the N.C. Pre-K program that have totaled $261,000, Repass said.

Last year, Community Action Opportunities had 316 families on its waiting list, and those waits will surely be longer. Mountain Area Child and Family Center is holding a fundraising campaign to raise money to offset some of the sequester cuts the nonprofit is facing. For more information, visit www.macfc.org or contact Kelly Brandon at 298-0808.

A to former WCU and current Kansas City Royals reliever Greg Holland for his selection to a roster spot on the American League squad for tonight's MLB All-Star game. He's the first Catamount in school history to be selected. The MLB All-Star selection is the second of Holland's professional career; the Marion native earned Texas League Mid-season All-Star honors in 2009 while playing in the Royals' farm system with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. All-Star game action is slated to start at 8 tonight on Fox.

F to Gov. Pat McCrory for saying he'd sign a version of an abortion bill originating in the state House. The position is directly counter to McCrory's answer to a question in a televised gubernatorial debate in October. Asked which new abortion restrictions he'd sign into law, then-candidate McCrory said "None." McCrory, who established a firm record as a moderate while serving as mayor of Charlotte, was lashed by his hometown newspaper, the Observer, which said, "This was a moment when McCrory could have redeemed himself and showed up as the moderate governor we thought we were getting. ? Instead McCrory broke a promise. And by doing so, he showed us that though he may be governor in name, he's clearly not in charge."

D for the hit to tourism, and thus the local economy, delivered with the closing of the stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkwazy from Milepost 375, a few miles north of the city, to Milepost 355 at N.C. 128/Mount Mitchell State Park. The closure, which comes during the second-busiest month of the year for the parkway, is due, according to parkway chief ranger Steve Stinnett, to "a 2- to 4-inch-wide, 100-foot-long crack in the road, so we're concerned about the road failing there. We'll have to have it assessed by an engineer before we can reopen." Stinnett said the crack is located on the road's center line just north of Tanbark Tunnel, and a ranger said he can see 6 feet down into the crack. "The ground below the crack is completely saturated and is starting to collapse.'' In a sense, Mother Nature has now conspired to keep people from enjoying Mother Nature. For more information, including road closures, visit www.nps.gov/blri.

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Report Card: F's to McCrory, Head Start cuts

Other graded topics include Greg Holland's All-Star spot and the impact of the parkway crack.